Sol Badguy
Sol Badguy is the main character and the eternal rival to Ky Kiske in the Guilty Gear fighting game series. At first glance, he is an aloof, anti-hero bounty hunter, whose odd taste in rectangular, blunt swords (aka, the Fuuenken, or Fireseal sword) belies his terrifying fighting ability, and the amazing genius and emotional depths beneath that brash exterior. Info Name: Sol Badguy Height: 6 / 182 cm Blood Type: "No Clue" / Unknown Weight: 163 lbs / 74 kg Eye Color: Brown / Ochre Origin: America / USA Birthday: August 14 Hobbies: Listening to Queen Likes: Queen`s album "Sheer Heart Attack" Dislikes: Great effort, "Doing your best." Character Design Creator Daisuke Ishiwatari designed Sol in many ways to reflect as his alter ego and also recorded Sol's in-game voice acting (the voice acting for GGXX's story mode and drama CDs however, is done by Hikaru Hanada). Sol's normal character design depicts him as left-handed, with reddish brown hair and eyes, wearing a tight, black undershirt with the top half covered by a red, sleeveless jacket along with white jeans. His headband bears the words 'Rock You', a reference to the Queen song "We Will Rock You", while his belt buckle has the word 'FREE', possible a reference to a Queen's song "I Want To Break Free". Sol's character design also contains a pair of black, fingerless gloves, red shoes, a drape of red cloth hanging down beneath his buckle and a multitude of belts, including a lone one on his left forearm. Sol fights using a blunt, rectangular sword known as Fuuenken (Fireseal) through which he releases a range of fire-based attacks. Story Background His exact history is unclear, but it is known for certain that Sol's real name is Frederick, who not only was one of the lead scientists of the Gear Project, but is also the prototype Gear from over a hundred years before the events of the Guilty Gear games. As a prototype, he is immune to the orders of Commander Gears. He was personally acquainted with That Man prior to the Crusades. His headband is actually a Gear-suppression device which prevents him from giving into his Gear nature and losing his rationality, at the cost of suppressing much of his power. The headband also conceals the glowing red brand on his forehead, the telltale mark that would expose him as a Gear. In Guilty Gear 2: Overture this headband suppression device seems to have malfunctioned due to I-No's doing (throwing Sol into the past to fight his past-self: Order Sol ) in Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus, Sol's ending. Sol seems to have broken or cracked the seal on his headband. This might explain the increase in Sol's strength in Guilty Gear 2. As Frederick, Sol created the "Outrage", which he called a supreme Anti-Gear weapon. The Outrage is actually not one weapon but several - eight components called "Jinki" (Godlike Weapons), which greatly amplify their wielders' magical ability. Only three Outrage weapons are currently known to be active - Sol's own Fuuenken (Fireseal), Ky's Fuuraiken (Thunderseal), and Anji Mito's twin fans, Zessen (Unparalleled Fans). The other five are supposedly in the custody of the United Nations, although some fans believe Paracelsus, A.B.A's living key, to be a jinki. Frederick also saved Kliff Undersn (one of the leaders of the Holy Order and the one who named Ky Kiske leader of the Holy knights) when Kliff was still a young boy. Roughly half a century later, he was himself recruited into the order, as a bounty hunter named "Sol Badguy." Sol took part in the Crusades, ironically becoming one of the best fighters on the human side. At this time he was a member of the Sacred Order of Holy Knights (Seikishidan). He acquired the nickname "Corrupted Immoral Flame" (Haitoku no Honoo) during that time, a name that such figures as I-No and Justice use for him later. However, he later became disenchanted with the methods of the Sacred Order. At an unspecified time, Sol fled the order, taking with him the Fuuenken, which the Holy Knights had come to consider a sacred treasure. The theft earned him Ky Kiske's enmity; ironically, since Sol himself forged the Fuuenken. In 2175, Sol faced Justice directly. The two fought, and Justice won - in the process, discovering that Sol was a Gear (but not his true identity as the Prototype Gear). Justice attempted to assert her power as a Commander Gear to control Sol, but was unable to do so. Exploiting her confusion from the fight, the Holy Order, led by Ky Kiske, sealed Justice away, bringing the war to an end. Guilty Gear Canon states that Sol was the winner of the Tournament, and it is here that Justice discovers that Sol is, in fact, Frederick. Justice, in her dying words, comments that she wishes that "the three of us" could talk one last time, and Sol swears to kill That Man. Guilty Gear X Sol has three endings, all of which involve a fight against Dizzy, who has a half-million World Dollar bounty on her head. However, he spares her life in all of them, losing against her in his second ending, and judging that she isn't a threat to the world in the other two. In his third ending, we see a conversation between That Man and one of his servants, in which That Man cryptically says, "To think there was a daughter...most interesting." It is revealed Drama CD Side Black to be in reference to Justice being Dizzy's mother. Guilty Gear XX His storyline here involves chasing down I-No. His first ending, after he defeats I-No, leads to a direct confrontation with That Man. That Man casually deflects all Sol's attacks, and says that Sol is needed because soon a greater battle than the Crusades will occur. In Sol's second ending, Slayer informs him of the Post-War Administration Bureau's interest in Dizzy, which catches his interest. In the third, he fights Dizzy, who had been possessed by Necro after I-No knocked her off the Mayship, and sends Dizzy on her way to meet Johnny and May. 'Guilty Gear 2: Overture' A few years before the events in Illyria and sometime after GGXX:AC Sol appears before Ky Kiske, newly appointed king of Illyria. Sol came to pick up Ky’s rapidly aging half-gear son, Sin. Ky was against it first, but Sin would leave in Sol’s care. Sol would spend the next few years training Sin how to fight, survive, and read. Sin would grow to see Sol as his father. During their travels they came across a wanted poster with Sol’s picture on it. Just as Sol figures that the poster is just Ky asking for them to return he is plagued by a headache and the pair are attacked by the Vizuel, the servants of Valentine. The Vizuel had the upper hand until a voice introduces Sol to a new power, the Soul Sinker. This allowed Soul to construct Servants of his own from his soul leading to their victory. The voice later introduced himself as Izuna, a resident of the backyard. Izuna told Sin and Sol that the Vizuel were seeking out and destroying gears. Their main area of interest was the kingdom of Illyria. Izuna through a series of warp gates would take the pair to Illyria. There they met Valentine for the first time. Sol’s head ached again and he was shocked by her appearance. He knew her… Soul battled her and the Vizuel with the help of Izuna’s powers. After the fight the group made it to Illyria Castle, were they found Ky in a powerful binding spell. There they met with Raven, one of “That Man’s” associates. Sol immediately attacked Raven, but was unable to do any damage to the man known as the Undying Disease. Raven's presence meant only one thing: That Man was involved. Izuna knew of someone who would be able to release the seal on Ky. Sol left Sin to guard Ky while he went to meet Dr. Paradigm with Izuna. Sol was shocked to be brought to a colony of living and self aware gears. Their leader Dr. Paradigm was a genius at using magic and explained That Man’s and the Backyard’s involvement in these events. He believed that Valentine and That Man were vying for domination over “The Cube”, a self contained space within the Backyard. The Vizuel were gathering Gear Cells as a key in order to enter the Cube. Sol then accompanied Dr. Paradigm to Illyria to release the seal placed on Ky. Once the seal was released Sin ran away from the group in frustration towards Ky. After some conversation the group discovered that Valentine needed the Gear Cells of Justice to enter The Cube. Illyria was being targeted because Ky’s Wife, the Maiden of The Grove had these Gear Cells. They realized that if she had the cells then her son, Sin, likely had them. Sol and Izuna left the others to defend Illyria Castle while they chased after Sin. They were too late to stop Valentine from kidnapping Sin. Sol and Izuna chased after them to Bel Canto Valley. Izuna took down the barrier in their path, but he was too late. Sin had already been sublimated and brain washed. Sol defeated a brain washed Sin and the group took off after Valentine. Thousands of Vizuel stood in their way. Ky, Paradigm, and the knights of Illyria arrived to take on the fight. Sol, Izuna, and Dr. Paradigm went on ahead leaving Sin and Ky to take on the Vizuel. Sol and the others reached the gate to the Backyard, but it was already closed. Just before all hope was lost the gate opened and a lone figure came out, That Man. Sol revealed his true Gear form in order to fight That Man. During the battle That Man seemed to be testing Sol and informing him about Valentines intentions. When the battle ended Sol was unable to damage That Man. As he left That Man gave the group an effect that would enable them to survive the immense pressure of The Backyard. The group entered the Backyard and caught up to Valentine. The Key was already in motion and the Cube was starting to open. Valentine in frustration transformed into a Justice-like monster and battled the late arriving Sin together with Izuna and Dr. Paradigm. Meanwhile Sol was busy stopping the cube from opening. He succeed and Valentine seemed to give up fighting. She appeared as if she was going to self-destruct. Sol told the others to escape the Backyard while he hesitated back to fight yet another form of Valentine. In the fight Sol battled both Valentine's immense body and her soul. In her soul he would hear a rush of her emotions and memories. Once he laid the final blow the last thing she would say was his true name, Fredrick. After the fight Sol found himself in a white space unable to return. In that space That Man came before him yet again. He revealed that Valentine is involved with “A Merciless Apocalypse” an event that Sol is to take part in. Sol confirmed with That Man that Valentine was Aria, Sol’s former lover and the woman That Man turned into Justice. With That Man’s help Sol was able to return to the real world and reunite with the others. Musical References *Ishiwatari's favorite band is Queen, and he thus named Sol Badguy, whose "real" name is Frederick (or Freddie for short), after Freddie Mercury, whose nickname was 'Mr. Bad Guy'. *Like Ishiwatari, Sol's favorite band is also said to be Queen, with Sol's favorite album being Sheer Heart Attack. *All of Sol's theme songs, "Keep Yourself Alive" 1, 2, and 3, share the same name as the first track off of Queen's debut album. Trivia *Sol is as good at cooking as Jam. *It is unknown why Sol carries a violent vendetta against That Man. Fans have speculated that it is because he might've been a unwilling participant in the Gear conversion experiment. Others suspect that he is enraged at how That Man has used his research(as he is stated to be the lead scientist behind the "Gear Concept") to turn Gears into biological killing machines, which has resulted in the mass genocide of the human race. Another idea is that it was not Sol who was an unwilling participant, but rather his girlfriend Aria, now known as Justice(though this is unlikely to be Sol's main motivation for vengeance since he was previously unaware of Justice's human identity until That Man revealed that information in Guilty Gear:Overture) . *The main protagonist of BlazBlue, Ragna the Bloodedge, appears to be Sol's Blazblue counterpart. Aside from their roles as the main protagonists and red color schemes, both have similar fighting styles and powers. Sol's Dragon Install is mirrored by Ragna's Blood Kain as well as a rivalry with an authority figure. They also possess similar aptitudes in culinary matters. In terms of elements however, Sol is almost counterfitted on both modes onto Bang Shishigami (Order Sol for the Fu Rin Ka Zan part.) *When fighting Ky Kiske in most of the games in the series, a special background theme exclusive to such a match up plays instead of one or the other's normal stage themes. In GG1, their theme was "Conclusion", which also played in a battle between Zato and Millia, GGX had No Mercy, and GGXX had at least 4 depending on the version. In the normal version, Noontide would play, with No Mercy being its replacement if the game was set on "GGX" mode, and the Korean versions had Revelations and Faith Shall Save Thee as its own replacements. *In the webcomic, created by Shadow Draygon, "Holy Zen", Sol has an irrational hate for squirrels to the point of murdering them on contact. In the second comic Shadow Draygon made, "Blazen", a BlazBlue webcomic, he appears in "Shit Outta Luck" and attempts to burn Makoto, a half-squirrel beastman. It's noticable that within his appearance in Blazen, the title of the comic can be seen as "SOL". Sol's name is also referenced in the activation code for the Azure in Terumi's verison.. *Sol appears in Buruaji, or BlazBlue radio, representing Ishiwatari. Gallery Image:Ggending sol.gif|Sol's 'Guilty Gear' ending Image:Ggxplusending sol2.jpg|Sol's second ending in 'Guilty Gear X Plus' Image:Ggj sp 01.png|'Guilty Gear Judgment' Special ending 1 Image:Ggj sp 02.png|'Guilty Gear Judgment' Special ending 2 Image:Ggj sp 03.png|'Guilty Gear Judgment' Special ending 3 Image:Ggx am so.jpg|Sol's 'Guilty Gear X' Arcade ending Image:Ggxplusspecial sol.jpg|Sol's Guilty Gear X Plus' special ending Image:Ggxxac am so.png|Sol's 'Guilty Gear XX Accent Core' Arcade ending Image:Ggxxr am so.jpg|Sol's 'Guilty Gear XX #RELOAD' Arcade ending Image:Ggxxr sm so1.jpg|Sol's 'Guilty Gear XX #RELOAD' Story mode ending Path 1 Image:Ggxxr sm so3.jpg|Sol's 'Guilty Gear XX #RELOAD' Story mode ending Path 3 Image:Ggxxs am so.png|Sol's 'Guilty Gear XX Slash' Arcade ending Image:Homg.jpg|Sol's 'Guilty Gear Isuka' ending Image:Sol Badguy.jpg|Sol as seen in 'Guilty Gear 2 Overture' Image:Sol Headshot.jpg|Sol's headshot art in 'Guilty Gear 2 Overture' Image:Sol10.jpg|Official Sol Badguy art Image:Sol11.jpg|fanart Image:Sol7.jpg|fanart Image:Sol_and_Ragna_by_mikagome007.jpg|Fanart of the Fireslicer and Soul Eater sol_list.gif|Sol Movelist Sprite Category:Featured Articles Category:Guilty Gear Characters Category:Gears